Sophie Raptis

Ozone technology and data platform that powers adverting for the UK’s 20+ publishers for advertisers video, display and e-commerce campaigns. From start-up to scale-up, Ozone is now into its sixth year and a £50+million award-winning business.

As the third employee, I helped build the Ozone business from the ground up by developing a high-performing team of 15 people through mentorship.

Recruited, hired, and trained initial personnel, working to establish key internal functions and outline scope of positions for new organization.

Formed strategic partnerships and drove business with more than 200+ advertisers where my role was to engage and maintain senior relationships at C-level, director and media teams as needed to unlock and support business opportunities and success.

CPG: Procter & Gamble, Nestle, GSK, Diageo, L’Oreal, Retail: Carphone Warehouse, Boots, John Lewis; Luxury & High Fashion: Chanel, Ferragamo, Tods, Giorgio Armani, Prada, Swatch Group; Energy: British Gas, Smart Energy, OVO Energy; Grocers: Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Ocado; Travel: Jet2, Tui, British Airways; Expedia Gp; Financial Services: American Express, Virgin Money, Barclays Bank, Lloyds Bank, Halifax Bank, Nationwide, HSBC, Santander; Telecoms: Sky Media, Vodafone, British Telecom, EE, Virgin Media, O2; Technology: Samsung, Apple and Peloton; Betting: Betfair, Camelot and William Hill.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Led The Trade Desk integration for Ozone along side my client P&G. This allowed P&G to have direct access to Ozone data and inventory, negating the need for an SSP, which cuts their fees, increased transparency, safety, efficiency and ensures a more sustainable framework. This work took cross-functional business alignment and pioneered the way for other clients to follow with a similar framework and created enormous revenue generation for the Ozone business.

PERSONAL AWARDS:

2021 & 2022: Ozone Networker Award

This is for the person within the organization who is relentlessly making sure Ozone is known and chosen. They will take every opportunity to ensure our business punches above its weight and stands out. Votes for by the employees across the business.

2019, 2020, 2021: Ozone Game Changer Award

For exceptional performance and someone who has had an exceptional, significant, and lasting impact on Ozone business. Voted for by the Chief Executive and senior leadership team.

INDUSTRY TEAM AWARDS:

2022: Double Gold at Media Week Awards: Media Brand & Sales Team of The Year.

The Judges said, 'The Ozone Project celebrates collaboration and has undergone substantial growth. The Results, which cover various metrics, from sustainability to team growth to advertiser count, were impressive.

2023: The Drum: Commercial Team of the Year

The Judges said: “Ozone is the digital powerhouse for advertisers and publishers, and it’s been smashing every single one of its targets, proving that advertising is playing a key role in powering journalism’.

Responsible for generating revenue of £80 million, 20% above target by creating and implementing tailored multi platform sponsorship packages for clients including HSBC, Barclays, Santander, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Close Brothers, Halifax, Lloyds Bank, Nationwide, Post Office, Habito, Investec, Vodafone, TalkTalk and BT that created fame and drove growth.

Customer satisfaction was enhanced and revenue was generated by fostering long-term relationships, consistently addressing client needs with innovative solutions and providing exceptional service.

Led a high-performing sales team of six people through effective coaching, mentoring, and performance management strategies.

AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

Winner of 2015/16 B2B - EMEA Sponsorship Award for the Vodafone ‘Ready Business Britain’ campaign. An 18 month multi-channel campaign to position Vodafone as the a key partner for enterprise – from SMEs to large enterprises. A cross-functional project that I led across editorial and commercial departments to work together for client and agency success and £1.8m incremental revenue generation.

Increased the B2B revenue base from $1m to $5m in just two years, pitching local business decision-makers of major global corporations to advertise in new markets.

Built and commercialised relationships with Shell, Dassault Systems, Lenovo, Airbus, BA Systems, and Invest Georgia by creatively packaging WSJ audience, reach, and capabilities

HIGHLIGHT ACHIEVEMENT

Collaborated with Marketing to produce a media-first advertising opportunity at The World Economic Forum for Airbus, including event activation at the WSJ Lounge at Davos and a cross-platform thought leadership editorial sponsorship campaign

Led WSJ Magazine across the global sales team and its matrixed business.

Defined the unique position of WSJ Magazine by constructing a compelling audience story to establish the competitive advantage of aligning with a high-net-worth audience of business professionals.

Secured over 140 new luxury and fashion advertisers, including Karing Gp brands, LVMH Gp Brands, Chanel, Tiffany, Swatch Gp Brands, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana Ferragamo, Brioni into The Wall Street Journal franchise, resulting in 50% of these advertisers further investing across additional products (newspaper and WSJ.com).

Drove a 250% increase in publication frequency from 4x per year to 10x, based on achieving advertising momentum and implementing content themes within each issue.

Transformed the internal perception of the product, acquiring new investment from the CEO and executive team to double the magazine circulation.

Worked alongside Dow Jones General Manager, Editor-in-Chief and Finance to create this cross functional success.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Secured 140 news advertisers and doubled the revenue, which turned the magazine into a profitable business. The magazine remained the most profitable part of The Wall Street Journal franchise for the following 10 years.